Rapid urbanisation in Ongata Rongai, Kenya, has transformed the Mbagathi and
Kandisi Rivers from ecological corridors within a wider hydrological system into
degraded rivers affected by urban and peri-urban activities. Weak sanitation,
drainage and waste systems have contributed to the discharge of sewage,
stormwater runoff, solid waste, agricultural pollution and wastewater from local
activities into the river system. At the same time, the degradation of riparian
zones, forested source areas and native vegetation has reduced the landscape’s
capacity to absorb, filter and buffer polluted flows.
This thesis explores how a landscape architectural framework can enable local
stakeholders to mitigate water pollution and support ecological restoration along
these rivers. Through a research-by-design approach, the project combines spatial
analysis, literature review, stakeholder conversations and design exploration. The
research frames river pollution as a spatial, ecological and governance-related
problem, caused not only by contaminated flows, but also by the loss of ecosystem
services that once supported natural water regulation and purification.
The outcome is a framework consisting of two interrelated parts: an ecological
framework at the catchment scale and a water quality framework at the urban
scale. Together, they identify where landscapes should be restored, reconnected
or protected, where polluted flows should be prevented, intercepted or treated,
and which spatial strategies are suitable for different locations. Local design
explorations then show how this framework can be translated into more specific
interventions.
The thesis concludes that improving river water quality depends on rebuilding the
ecological capacity of the catchment while addressing specific pollution pathways
in the urban landscape. For implementation to succeed, local stakeholder interests
and economic benefits must be central, especially where formal governance and
enforcement are limited ... Read more

The Tiva River Basin in Kenya faces increasing challenges related to land degradation, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, and declining agricultural productivity. As more than 90% of agricultural land depends on rainfed farming, these environmental pressures directly affect farmer livelihoods and food security. While various restoration initiatives are active within the region, opportunities to connect long-term farmer livelihoods, ecological restoration and biodiversity enhancement through a broader landscape framework remain limited.

This research investigates how regenerative agroforestry can support farmers in the Tiva River Basin while contributing to land restoration and biodiversity recovery. Using a Research through Design approach, the study combines literature review, spatial analysis, field observations, precedent studies and design exploration across multiple scales. Basin-scale socio-ecological processes were analysed and translated into landscape-scale strategies, farm-scale designs and detailed crop-tree configurations. The research resulted in a multi-scale agroforestry framework and a detailed design proposal for a representative farm within the basin. The proposed framework integrates productive and ecological functions through context-specific species selection, spatial planting strategies, riparian restoration and diversified agroforestry systems. The design prioritises farmer livelihoods through productive tree-crop combinations while simultaneously addressing soil degradation, erosion and habitat loss.

The findings suggest that regenerative agroforestry can function as a connecting framework between agricultural production and ecological restoration. By placing farmer livelihoods at the centre of the design process, opportunities emerge to strengthen livelihood security while supporting land restoration and biodiversity enhancement. Although the proposed interventions remain untested, the research demonstrates the potential of regenerative agroforestry as a landscape strategy for creating more resilient socio-ecological systems within the Tiva River Basin and other dryland regions facing similar challenges. ... Read more

Land degradation has weakened watershed functions across Kenya’s highlands, leading to soil erosion, reduced water infiltration, and increasing water stress. Driven by deforestation, monocropping, urban expansion, and climate variability, these environmental pressures threaten both ecological resilience and local livelihoods. This highlights the need for restoration approaches that simultaneously restore watershed function and support long-term economic viability.
Using Machakos County as a case study, this thesis develops a landscape architectural framework for regenerative coffee farming to restore watershed function. Guided by theories of regenerative agriculture, watershed management, Ecopolis, and traditional ecological knowledge, the study applies a research-by-design methodology combining landscape biography, watershed analysis, and field observations.
The findings reveal that coffee-based regenerative agriculture can drive restoration. The framework leverages high-value specialty coffee for premium markets and introduces climate-resilient coffee species in water-stressed areas. Adopting the Ecopolis three-flow strategy, it integrates regenerative principles for soil health, spatial scenarios for design interventions, and stakeholder engagement. Tested at Iveti Hill and the Thwake River, an evaluation of the framework’s hydrological and economic impacts demonstrates that this approach can scale regionally over a 30-year horizon to deliver positive, systemic landscape restoration. ... Read more

Urban areas increasingly face water nuisance due to more frequent and intense rainfall caused by climate change. This thesis investigates how the public areas, and potentially the private areas, of the Wippolder in Delft can be redesigned to infiltrate, buffer and/or discharge rainwater in order to become rainproof towards 2050.

This research combines spatial analysis of the current situation during heavy rainfall with an assessment of the main causes of rainwater nuisance, key stakeholders and the spatial threats and opportunities for implementation measures. Based on this analysis and a review of existing rainwater solutions, a pattern language was developed. A design rainfall event of 70 mm in two hours was used as the guiding scenario.

Building on the analysis, a research by design approach was applied that prioritises no-regret interventions in public space. The resulting design demonstrates that approximately 90% of the design rainfall event can be managed within the Wippolder through public-space measures alone, without negatively affecting other urban functions. The remaining rainwater nuisance can be addressed either through more radical public-space interventions that require spatial trade-offs, or through the implementation of rainwater measures on private plots, which depend on the willingness of residents and housing corporations.

Overall, this thesis demonstrates that a public space focused design can substantially reduce rainwater nuisance in the Wippolder without negatively affecting the existing environment, and clarifies that additional reduction requires either spatial trade-offs or the willingness of residents to implement measures on private plots. ... Read more

This graduation project examines how architecture can contribute to strengthening social cohesion and biodiversity in Zuidplein, Rotterdam, through the integration of communal food production into housing. The project departs from the observation that Zuidplein is characterized by strong ethnic diversity, but also by limited interaction between different social groups, a shortage of places that support prolonged stay, and a highly paved urban environment with fragmented ecological connections. In addition, the infrastructural barriers surrounding the area weaken both social and ecological continuity between the neighborhood and Zuiderpark.

In response, the project proposes a bridge-shaped residential building positioned above the existing infrastructure. The building is conceived as a socio-ecological connector that links neighborhood and park while combining dwelling, collective use, and environmental systems within one spatial framework. The design is organized around three interrelated mechanisms: food production, co-living, and circularity. Food production is approached as a socio-ecological catalyst that supports cultural exchange, affordability, and biodiversity. Co-living is used to stimulate repeated everyday encounters through shared routes and communal spaces, enabling social relations to develop over time. Circularity functions as a supporting system through the reuse of water, heat, energy, and materials, thereby reducing resource consumption and CO2 emissions.

The proposal includes 163 dwellings for a mixed community of students, starters, families, and seniors, organized in clusters around shared atriums, communal kitchens, and rooftop gardens. Public elements such as a market square, productive plinth, and accessible roof route connect the building to the wider urban context. Through this integration of housing, food systems, public space, and ecological infrastructure, the project demonstrates how social cohesion and biodiversity can be addressed as mutually reinforcing components of one architectural system. ... Read more

In the Netherlands, urban renovation projects increasingly face the pressures of drought, severe rains, and heat stress. Vegetated roof layers offer a solution by temporarily storing rainfall in the substrate and delaying runoff, while evapotranspiration and shading moderate roof surface temperatures during warm periods. Renovation portfolios, including public buildings, combine high exposure, lengthy life cycles, and extensive roof surfaces, making rooftop choices materially relevant for climate adaptation.

However, although green roofs are frequently marketed as climate-adaptive solutions, their uptake in projects often hinges on broad pledges, isolated pilots, or aesthetic ambition rather than decision-ready justification. Post-occupancy evidence regarding cooling, water retention, and other effects remains fragmented, and the links between measured performance and actual decisions are weak. The core problem is therefore not a lack of technical options, but a decision and governance gap. Projects struggle to translate mixed evidence into choices that stakeholders accept, can resource, and can follow through on, with clear responsibilities and feasible routines. This thesis asks how evidence for climate-adaptive green roofs in Dutch renovation projects can be structured to better support decision-making.

The research shows that thermal and hydrological effects are supported by relatively robust and repeatable quantitative findings. In contrast, ecosystem services and planning or governance aspects remain less consistently measured, often staying at the level of qualitative claims. While indicators exist, they are rarely translated into decision rules for renovation portfolios, and roof-level measurements are seldom tied to responsibility allocation or follow-through. Stakeholder perspectives confirm this pattern: respondents value clear, conservative performance indicators for water retention and basic financial performance, but they also rely heavily on qualitative signals such as perceived cooling, user satisfaction, and the symbolic value of greenery. Structural barriers, including limited budgets, fragmented responsibilities, and limited data processing capacity, reinforce a preference for simple, repeatable checks that can be integrated into existing routines and clarify responsibilities at handover.

Building on these insights, the thesis develops a Structured Decision Making (SDM) model that organizes justification around a compact objectives hierarchy and archetypal roof alternatives. The model makes explicit which evidence reduces which uncertainty at key decision points, linking technical, financial, experiential, and governance evidence to the relevant organizational levels. Monitoring is redefined as a minimal, decision-driven practice that supports decision traceability and basic performance assurance.

By proposing this SDM-based model, the thesis provides decision-ready justification criteria and minimal monitoring commitments. It integrates robust hydrological indicators with qualitative drivers, making responsibilities explicit. This context-informed prototype offers a practical starting point for municipalities, consultants, and portfolio managers to justify green roof decisions in a transparent and learning-oriented way. ... Read more

This thesis starts from the fascination which concerns the idea of a multispecies ‘Right to the City’, recognising both humans and non-human species as co-inhabitants. It raises the question: who gets to produce and appropriate the city?
The thesis focuses on the case of Mechelen, where broader global patterns of biodiversity loss and ecological fragmentation can be recognized within its own territory. Climate-related issues that are expected to increase due to climate change, such as heat stress and water nuisance, threaten the liveability of the city. Mechelen is located within a rich system of valleys, wetlands and tidal rivers. Nevertheless, infrastructural barriers, loss of (wetland) habitats, habitat fragmentation, sealed surfaces, and the focus on discharge and control of water have weakened ecological and systemic functioning. In public space, this is also manifested in the lack of natural elements and processes. Much of the public realm remains primarily functional, offering limited affordances for social activation, appropriation, or daily human–nature interaction.
The fascination, together with the aforementioned issues, raises the question: what could this relation to the natural system be in the future, and how may this be synergized with social activation as well as the inclusion of non-human actors?
As the city currently works on these domains mainly separately through individual designs, or with ambitions remaining untranslated into spatial design, this thesis argues that there is a need for a relational, cross-domain and cross-scalar design method.
The focus of the thesis therefore lies in developing such a design language. This aim is reflected in the main research question:
What design language can interweave revalorization and inclusion of the natural system within the public realm of Mechelen with fostering social activation and socio-ecological interaction, while strengthening further liveability?
The thesis is grounded in a theoretical framework combining landscape ecology, ‘The Language of Landscape’ by Spirn (and the idea of landscape literacy and legibility), as well as Gehl’s writings on designing for more life in public space. Forman’s patch–corridor–matrix model and mosaic thinking reveal structural ecological discontinuities and variations in ecological quality. Spirn’s writings on the language of landscape incite the reading of lost processes and landscape stories, while Gehl’s insights describe conditions that support social interaction.
Through fieldwork, territorial analysis, analysis of public space, and theory, these readings are translated into a cross-scalar pattern language composed of ecological, social and socio-ecological pattern sets.
Narratives developed from these patterns explore new socio-ecological realities, as they function as a curating tool for the patterns and also embed them locally. The functioning of the pattern language and the narratives is then tested through design explorations.
The thesis concludes that, through the use of a pattern language as a relational design tool, combined with narratives, a coherent and adaptable approach is offered for bridging ambitions in biodiversity, climate resilience, social activation and socio-ecological interweaving. By linking territorial ecological structures with the lived, everyday domain of public space, it provides a spatial methodology for designing a more resilient, socially activated and socio-ecologically interwoven urban landscape.
... Read more

River basins are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change. The Maas (Meuse), a rain-fed river, depends on precipitation for its discharge. Changing rainfall patterns are expected to intensify floods due to wetter winters and summer storms, while also increasing water shortages in summer. Historically, the river naturally adapted to extreme changes in discharge, but the engineered, fixed-course river landscape has reduced its resilience and adaptability.

Renaturalisation of the river morphology could restore these natural processes. However, this requires a transformation of the surrounding ecological, agricultural, and urban landscape. Therefore, this thesis investigates how the cultivated landscape can be integrated into a more natural river system in the Noordelijke Maasvallei by 2100, under the most extreme dry and wet scenarios following a systemic design approach. A pattern language defines measures related to renaturalisation, ecology, agriculture, and urbanisation. The maximisation method then identifies the best spatial outcomes per theme as input for the integrated design.

The research led to an integrated design for the Noordelijke Maasvallei, where the Maas has space to flow and sedimentate naturally. This improves the water safety, water quality, and ecological resilience of the area towards 2100. The design applies measures from the pattern language across multiple scales, revealing different possibilities to enhance climate resilience for the river, ecological, agricultural, and urban landscapes. The systemic approach of this research allows for transferability to other contexts. Although this design prioritises renaturalisation and ecological resilience, the focus can be shifted by adjusting the inputs from the maximisation method. Furthermore, the pattern language provides a toolbox with measures that can be used separately and in different contexts. Overall, this thesis demonstrates the potential of restoring rivers to enhance climate resilience when the landscape adapts to the river, rather than forcing the river to fit human needs. ... Read more

Urban environments are getting warmer and warmer because of climate change so there is a need for interventions that can help with cooling. These interventions should also provide co-benefits. A lot of microclimate studies only focus on a few fixed points, or street-wide averages and rarely look at conditions adjacent to an intervention or along a route regarding thermal comfort. Co-benefits such as added bioretention surface area and CO₂ uptake are almost never looked at alongside thermal comfort. To tackle those gaps three nature-based solutions (NBS) scenarios are tested in a thermally uncomfortable street in Amsterdam on the hottest day ever recorded in the city (25 July, 2019), these NBS scenarios are: green façades, bioswales and vegetated pergola. The ENVI-met model had input data of a local weather station and was validated against observations of the Schiphol weather station. So it is used to look at the whole-street conditions and 2 meter wide buffer zones for each NBS intervention at 18:00 and 23:00. A walk-based Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) tool of ENVI-met showed proper pedestrian exposure during a route. The Timorpleinbuurt-Zuid neighborhood was selected as a study-case because it is a neighborhood with a lot of high heat exposure and it has a low amount of public green space, so a high impervious cover, but also has urgent rainwater risk, and a high social vulnerability to heat, and it provides local weather data for validation. The results depend on both NBS type and analysis scale (bufferzone or whole street). The pergola has the strongest relief at 18:00, largely seen within its buffer zones where shade covers the sidewalk. Green façades cool more consistently at the street scale and are also staying effective into the evening, while also improving comfort in the bufferzones. The bioswales provide a low amount of thermal comfort at both scales but it has the highest amount of added bioretention surface area and the highest reduction in CO₂ levels. So there are trade-offs so a mixed strategy is recommended. This would be having pergolas on the sun exposed walking routes, green façades to block incoming sunlight on building facades to help with whole street-scale and thermal comfort at 18:00 and 23:00, and bioswales to increase the bioretention surface area and air-quality goals. The bufferzone and walk-based PET are a good way to evaluate the single NBS interventions where people actually move. ... Read more

This thesis explores strategies to address environmental injustice and enhance human wellbeing in minority-concentrated neighborhoods in Charlotte, North Carolina, impacted by rapid urbanization and limited access to greenspaces. Through a multi-scalar approach combining ecological restoration, sustainable urban design, and community-led placemaking, the project proposes integrated interventions such as expanding green corridors, restoring waterways, and promoting accessible transit to improve environmental quality and social equity. Central to the research is the Green Village of Charlotte, a nature-based educational and community hub designed to empower residents through environmental education and participatory initiatives focused on food sovereignty, biodiversity, and climate resilience. By combining scenario planning, design frameworks, softGIS surveys and community engagement, the project demonstrates how holistic, adaptive, and inclusive planning can foster healthier, more equitable urban environments while minimizing displacement risks. The findings contribute to advancing urban sustainability and environmental justice in growing metropolitan areas. ... Read more

In a context increasingly altered by the climate and biodiversity crises, the theoretical discourse and practices which shape the built environment have shifted in the past 50 years towards sustainable architecture, branching out on various concepts, such as adaptability, material life cycle assessment, circularity, urban mining and the digitization of the construction process. However, these strategies focus primarily on minimizing the environmental impact of the construction industry and thus, on mitigating climate change, while they miss addressing the inevitable impacts of a changing climate on architecture itself. If buildings are to be viewed as material repositories (Rau & Oberhuber, 2022), it becomes crucial to consider not only their material flows, but their material longevity and resilience as well. By perceiving weathering not solely as a destructive process, but as one of material exchange that encompasses both destructive and constructive elements, this research paper aims to identify what kind of constructive processes take place when materials are weathering, as well as what design strategies can facilitate these mechanisms. These phenomena lead to the bioprotection of the built environment and take the shape of physical bioprotection or biomineralization. Moreover, they can be achieved by making use of both natural and engineered ecological dynamics which take place on the outermost layer of a building. The analysis leads to a better understanding of material resilience and aims to contribute to a longer lifespan of the built environment in a changing climate. ... Read more

This research investigates the ongoing land subsidence crisis in Jakarta, revealing it as not merely an environmental issue but a product of deep-rooted social, historical, and infrastructural inequalities. Drawing from theoretical frameworks of speculative urbanism, urban resilience, and environmental justice, the study traces the origins of Jakarta’s vulnerability to colonial water systems, unregulated urbanization, and inequitable access to piped water. Through a comprehensive literature review and case study analysis, the paper evaluates current and global strategies, highlighting both top-down interventions and community-led innovations. A key outcome of this research is the development of an architectural design proposal for a resilient coastal community in Muara Baru, integrating local knowledge, decentralized water systems, and nature-based solutions. The study argues that meaningful adaptation must be inclusive, context-sensitive, and grounded in lived experience. Jakarta’s future resilience depends not only on technical solutions but also on just governance and community empowerment. ... Read more

In the context of population growth and economic development, dense cities can generate significant environmental and social benefits. Although this paradigm provides an essential strategy to confront urban population growth and housing demands, it directly and indirectly affects the well-being of urban life systems. The reduction of trees and urban green spaces that accompanies densification exacerbates the health risks to residents from heat island and urban flooding. At the same time, dense settlements fail to meet the basic needs of human contact with nature, raising issues of spatial justice. On the other hand, habitat degradation of flora and fauna leads to threats to the biodiversity in urban environments. This study provides a spatial intervention from an urban ecological design perspective to improve socio-ecological well-being in dense city contect by enhancing ecosystem services in order to achieve the goal of ecopolis.

Urban space types are classified first to help identify and better utilize the potential green space within dense cities. Then the Green in Dense pattern language is generated, which aims to improve socio-ecological well-being by complementing, enhancing, and maintaining green space. The pattern language provides strategies that can be applied to private and public spaces at four different scales and analyzes their adaptability to different urban space types. Also, in order to explore the process of practical application of the pattern language, the roles of human and non-human stakeholders are analyzed.

The pattern language are applied specifically to the inner city of Bruges. First, a future-oriented overall vision was established, applying large-scale patterns to supplement green spaces and build ecological and spatial networks from multiple layers, while proposing corresponding governance and management recommendations. The overall strategy was divided into four phases, with clear implementation sequences and priorities for projects within each phase. Specific roles and responsibilities were also defined for different types of stakeholders in each phase, forming an operational multi-stakeholder collaboration framework.

At the implementation level, the Eekhoutstraat–Garenmarkt street was selected as the pilot project for the first phase, applying the pattern language in a spatial context. In subsequent phases, three representative projects of different types were selected, each proposing targeted spatial design solutions, demonstrating the method's adaptability and replicability in diverse urban contexts.

This thesis presented a possibility to enhance socio-ecological well-being in dense urban areas by developing a replicable spatial strategy. It also integrates the needs and roles of both human and non-human stakeholders which emphasizes multispecies collaboration. Overall, it offers a useful reference for other historic, dense cities to develop green space strategies. ... Read more

Rapid urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa is placing increasing pressure on ecologically sensitive regions. In Nakuru, Kenya, situated between the Menengai Crater and Lake Nakuru, this growth threatens water systems, biodiversity and overall resilience. Unregulated development, combined with limited green infrastructure and inadequate water management, has intensified urban sprawl, deforestation, flooding and habitat loss.
At the same time, Nakuru’s unique ecological and cultural landscape offers the potential for a regenerative design approach that connects people and nature through multifunctional green-blue systems.

This thesis explores how regenerative urban landscape design can foster a more resilient future in Nakuru, balancing water management and biodiversity restoration. The goal is to develop a systemic approach connecting ecological infrastructure with the water network.

Using a research-by-design methodology, this project analyses the socio-ecological impacts of urban growth, through layered spatial analysis, precedent studies, stakeholder engagement and site-specific observations. The findings are translated to a spatial strategies.
These insights are translated into spatial strategies that structure the city around three hydrological zones: upland (control), midstream (store) and downstream (use).
Grounded in systems thinking and landscape-based urbanism, informed by theoretical framework, the resulting regenerative framework proposes design interventions such as water retention parks, green-blue corridors and multifunctional landscapes including urban agriculture and reforested catchment zones.
These strategies simultaneously address ecological goals (biodiversity, water quality), social goals (health, education, participation), and infrastructural goals (flood control, runoff management).

The proposed framework is site-specific but grounded in transferable principles such as systems thinking, multifunctionality and community-driven stewardship. Ultimately, the project repositions nature from a passive backdrop to an active urban agent; essential for both human and ecological well-being. ... Read more

The Njoro River, the primary tributary of Lake Nakuru in Kenya’s Rift Valley, is facing severe ecological degradation due to deforestation, agricultural intensification, and rapid urban expansion. This thesis explores how regenerative landscape design can be used to restore the ecological integrity of the river while supporting the livelihoods of communities within its catchment. Building on the methodology of Research Through Design (RTD), this work integrates hydrological analysis, socio-spatial mapping, and co-design workshops conducted in collaboration with local actors. The study develops a spatial framework based on nature-based solutions that can be implemented through decentralized, community-led action. Rather than proposing a singular fixed intervention, the thesis offers a contextual strategy that acknowledges the complexity of socio-ecological systems and the limitations of top-down planning models. The outcome is a layered, adaptable vision that aims to rebalance ecological and human needs in the Njoro watershed. ... Read more

Nakuru, situated in the East African Rift Valley, is a rapidly growing city nestled between the Menegai Crater volcano and Lake Nakuru. The fertile yet loose volcanic soil as a result of past eruptions, is supporting agriculture, while Lake Nakuru sustains diverse wildlife, including its famous flamingos by the algae in the lake ,with the lake historically supporting over one million birds at a time as recently as 2000（Byrne, Aidan, et al. 2024）. However, accelerated urban development has resulted in land sealing, deforestation, soil erosion, and ecological degradation—causing a dramatic decline in flamingo populations to just 6,000 by 2021 (Byrne, Aidan, et al., 2024).

The rapid expansion of the city has disrupted the hydrological balance of Lake Nakuru, leading to frequent flooding, increased surface runoff, siltation, and deteriorating water quality (Water as Leverage Nakuru – Setting the Scene, DeFacto, 2024). Compounding the issue, demand for freshwater is expected to rise by approximately 500% (Acacia Water, 2019).

This thesis argues that a spatial strategy integrating water management and urban agriculture, based on nature-based solutions (NbS), can contribute to a more sustainable future for Nakuru. Focusing on the peri-urban area, which holds significant potential for rapid urbanization, the research explores how seasonal streams and rainwater can be effectively utilized within communities and agricultural zones to support more resilient urban development. Rather than allowing rainwater to flow directly into Lake Nakuru which will result in rising lake levels, rain water storage can help address water shortages during the dry season. Based on the analysis of soil types, wetland agriculture and agroforestry can be applied as new approaches to support reforestation and increase income. Guided by principles of resilient design, this project aims to establish a new balance between rapid urban growth and the preservation of a diverse natural environment. ... Read more

Rapid urbanization in Nakuru, Kenya, has intensified the conflict between human development and fragile ecological systems. Land-use changes, deforestation, and inadequate infrastructure have disrupted natural systems over time, leading to excessive surface runoff, erosion, and groundwater depletion. These pressures are further worsened by climate change and the growing demand for basic services in Nakuru City. This research investigates how a landscape-based spatial strategy can strengthen social–ecological resilience by recharging freshwater availability and transforming seasonal runoff from a source of risk into a driver of regeneration.
Using a design-led approach, the study integrates hydrological and socio-spatial analysis with co-design workshops conducted on site to develop a systemic and layered spatial framework for water management across Nakuru’s seasonal watershed. Three flow zones were identified within the watershed, guiding the structure of the design strategy: delay and infiltrate in the upstream, transport and purify in the midstream, and collect and reuse downstream. These functions are translated into an interconnected spatial strategy for the western side of Nakuru that manages runoff while restoring ecological and social continuity and improving freshwater recharge.
The research also includes a detailed design study for the upstream zone, testing the applicability of the overall design strategy and its supporting principles on site. This process provided a basis for nature-based and community-led design explorations, showing how hydrological performance can be combined with productive land use, ecological restoration, and local participation. The design outcomes demonstrate that each part of the restoration network generates specific benefits for different stakeholder groups: farmers benefit from improved soil fertility and more diverse yields, institutions gain from increased groundwater recharge and reduced clean-up costs, and local communities experience better living conditions through greener and more accessible environments.
The results highlight the potential of landscape architecture as a practice that links ecological and hydrological processes with socio-cultural dynamics and governance. The proposed framework offers a scalable and transferable approach for restoring water balance and social–ecological resilience in other rapidly urbanizing regions, where environmental degradation and urban growth are closely intertwined.
... Read more

Human beings engage with architectural spaces both cognitively and emotionally, with research highlighting the significant impact of emotional experiences on health and well-being. As cities become increasingly urbanized, a notable absence of natural environments has raised concerns about a growing disconnection from nature. This gap manifests in both the quantity and quality of interactions with the natural world. The central challenge, then, is how to re-establish a meaningful connection to nature in urban settings.
This research aims to address two key objectives: first, to explore the environmental and emotional challenges posed by urbanization, and second, to develop a set of design principles and tools that empower architects and designers to create human-centered, emotionally resonant spaces.
In conclusion, emotional architecture offers a promising approach to mitigating the environmental and psychological impacts of urbanization. By engaging the senses, honoring local culture and climate, and integrating nature as a central design element, urban environments can be transformed into vibrant, restorative spaces that enhance both our well-being and our connection to the natural world creating an Urban Oais.
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Dutch resettlement housing for refugees is stressed due to the ongoing refugee crisis. As a result, the quality of housing cannot always be guaranteed, with negative consequences in terms of wellbeing. Architects, therefore, need tools to better integrate well-being into resettlement housing. Biophilic design offers a solution to combine wellbeing and dwelling. However, the suitability of this design approach has not previously been tested for resettlement housing and its target group. By compiling a pattern language from literature and testing it with both case studies and the Dutch regulation framework, a toolkit has been created for architects. The suitability of applying biophilic design in Dutch resettlement housing has been shown. The toolkit contains principles for the different patterns as well as generic principles. To translate these principles into practical tools, they are supported by various tools. This way, the architect has the opportunity to properly integrate biophilic design for well-being into the design, raising the quality of resettlement housing. ... Read more